IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Labor

More checks on worker treatment

A labor bureau official says the way companies in China treat their workers will be more strictly supervised. He made the comment after reports of abuses in companies that make products for Samsung Group and Apple Inc.

Xin Changxing, vice-minister of human resources and social security, said excessive overtime and unpaid long shifts can be found in a minority of companies, but most employers abide by laws to protect workers' rights. The human resources and social security authorities will step up law enforcement, including company inspections, he said.

Earlier, Samsung had admitted that employees worked longer than the law permits in HEG Electronics, one of its phone product suppliers, in Huizhou, Guangdong province. Also earlier, vocational schools in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, were alleged to have forced thousands of students to work as interns at a plant of Foxconn Technology Group, Apple's largest supplier. Foxconn has denied the allegation.

Health

Inquiry urged on GM study

The top health authority has ordered an investigation of an allegation that genetically modified golden rice was tested on schoolchildren in Hunan province as part of a Sino-US research project in 2008.

"The Ministry of Health has asked the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate and find out the truth as soon as possible, and inform the public of the findings," Deng Haihua, a ministry spokesman, said on Sept 11.

The center issued a statement saying Yin Shi'an, a researcher at the institute of nutrition and food safety at the center, and the third author of the paper on beta-carotene in golden rice, has been suspended from his job because "his statements were inconsistent during the investigation".

The environmental group Greenpeace broke the news of the controversial test last month, saying the joint research involved feeding golden rice, which is genetically modified to be rich in beta-carotene, to 24 children. It cited a paper published in last month's issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Society

Search for panda ambassadors

The search for a new batch of ambassadors whose mission will be to promote panda protection worldwide has begun.

The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is now accepting applications, offering training and a chance to get up close and personal with the animals.

Applications are being taken through Facebook and the Chinese website Tencent.

Administration

United agency against graft

China has set up what is said to be its first integrated anti-corruption office. The Office Against Corruption is in Hengqin New Area, an island in Guangdong province close to Hong Kong and Macao.

Four departments will handle discipline and supervision, and monitor audits and reports of negligence. These functions usually fall under various authorities.

"By integrating these functions, we can build a platform to share information and resources to fight and prevent corruption," China News Service quoted a spokesman for the Guangdong Party discipline authority as saying.

Hengqin, which falls under the jurisdiction of Zhuhai, will learn from the experience of Hong Kong and Macao to build a role model for others to follow, the Zhuhai Party chief Li Jia said.

Economy

A development zone is born

A new State-level development zone has been set up in inland Gansu province as the country eyes its western regions amid a general slowdown in coastal areas. The Lanzhou New Area is expected to promote bilateral trade with Central and Western Asian countries, officials said.

The area, a 30-minute drive from Lanzhou, the provincial capital, was drawn up by the central government as the fifth national-level development zone, after similar zones were set up in metropolises such as Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing.

The area is also the country's first national-level economic zone in a northwestern province. Underdeveloped western areas are expected to catch up with coastal cities, where businesses are now feeling the pinch from shrinking trade and rising labor costs.

Housing

Big investment in affordable homes

The government has invested 820 billion yuan ($129 billion, 101 billion euros) to build affordable housing units for low-income groups in the first eight months of the year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development says.

Local governments across the country started building 6.5 million government-subsidized housing units from January to August, up from 5.8 million units in the previous seven months.

The construction of affordable housing last month brought the government closer to achieving its goal of starting construction on more than 7 million units this year as part of its five-year plan to build 36 million units by 2015.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/14/2012 page2)